A man must return 11,686.60 euros to the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) in addition to losing the subsidy for those over 52 years of age, for having traveled abroad, exceeding the 15 days allowed. Thus, the Supreme Court agrees with the SEPE, explaining that to maintain this indefinite subsidy that contributes to the retirement pension, it is necessary to comply with the requirements and obligations.
This man was a beneficiary of the subsidy for those over 52 years of age (previously and as cited in the ruling it was the subsidy for those over 55 years of age) and he made several trips outside of Spain without notifying them to the SEPE, thus failing to comply with one of the rules established by the SEPE to maintain the aid. This fact was notified to the SEPE through the Provincial Police Station of the National Police of Castellón.
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For this reason, the SEPE initiated a sanctioning procedure for which it had to be notified. According to the ruling, “the notification was attempted at Almassora’s home on September 27 and 29, 2016, but was unsuccessful, so it was published in the BOE on November 8, 2016” (this part is important and key in this ruling). After notifying it, the SEPE proceeded to suspend the subsidy for those over 52 years of age and claim the amounts improperly collected, which was 11,686.60 euros.
The beneficiary, who had requested a change of bank account to collect the benefit and changed his address during the process, subsequently alleged that he was never correctly notified of the opening or resolution of the sanctioning file. It was not until August 2018 when the SEPE gave him a copy of the resolution, at which time he presented allegations and a previous claim, both of which were dismissed.
Did not comply with the subsidy requirements for those over 52 years of age
Both the Social Court No. 3 of Castellón and later the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community ruled in favor of the Public Employment Service, since it neither communicated its departures abroad nor reported the change of address.
The TSJ added that the lack of adequate notification was the responsibility of the beneficiary, who had the obligation to report his changes of address as stated in article 299.b of the General Social Security Law (LGSS). Despite this, this man tried once again to be proven right and that is why he went to the Supreme Court.
Loss of subsidy for those over 52 years of age
Before the High Court, he alleged that the notifications made by the SEPE did not comply with the law and that there were irregularities in the handling of his address data. Even so, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of SEPE, explaining that it acted in accordance with the law. That is to say, the notifications were correct, but what was not correct were the trips abroad without communicating them to the Public Employment Service.
Thus, he must return the amounts improperly collected, which are 11,686.60 euros, in addition to his unemployment benefit being extinguished.
Given the doubt about the difference between suspension and termination, in this case, the suspension would have been applied if the beneficiary had previously notified his departures abroad and these were temporary, allowing the subsidy to be resumed upon return. On the contrary, the termination was issued because the departures were not communicated and exceeded the permitted limit of 15 days, which implied a serious infraction that definitively annulled the right to the subsidy, that is, it will never be possible to collect it even until retirement age.